Strawberries
by Almighty Booger
Summary: The strawberries are ripening, and with them is growing new feelings for Yuki, Kyo, and most of all, Tohru. The maid wonders if one of her friends could end up becoming her worst enemy... or even worse, the love of her life. YUKRU don't read if u no like!
1. Riceballs

"Yuki! Yuki, wait!" he heard the voice behind him, but kept walking, despite the overwhelming regret that tore at him. "Yuki, please, come back!" she called. He kept walking.

He heard her footsteps grow irregular, and eventually falter, and thought maybe she would leave him alone.

But then her voice rang out again.

And it was sad.

And lonely.

And she sounded like she would cry.

"Was it something that I did?" she said quietly. He barely heard her... but there was so much emotion in her voice.

The Prince spun around to look at her, and saw her standing there... her eyes huge with worry, tears glistened in the corners. He gasped when he saw how her lip trembled... and felt terrible for leaving like that. He never hurt anyone but her by reacting poorly.

"Miss Honda... no, of course not," he stepped towards her, reaching out a hand. "I'd never get mad at you," he frowned, tipping his head to the side.

"I just wanted for everyone to be happy... that's all. Please don't be angry," she begged him, clasping her hands.

"I understand... it's just that... that dumb cat! Who does he think he is, anyway?" Yuki growled, scowling. He glanced over at her again, and noticed that she looked even more troubled now.

"Does this mean that you're still mad? I mean... is there anything I can do to help you?" she offered.

_She's always putting others before herself. Even though I could explode on her right now, she still tries to help me..._

"Miss Honda," he said, smiling. "I think that the strawberries are ripe," he offered her, smiling gently.

The girl looked up, her eyes softening as she grinned at him, realizing that he was accepting her offer. "Well, then, let's go!" she said, walking by him to lead the way toward the base. Turning around, she laughed to see that he was still standing there, gaping at how she could change moods so quickly. Reaching back, she grabbed her friend's hand and pulled him along. "What are you waiting for?" she giggled.

He smiled and allowed himself to be dragged behind her.

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"That stupid rat!" Kyo growled, kicking the tree in the back yard again. "What's wrong with him? Strutting around like he owns the place or something! I mean, what the hell's his problem?" he spun and kicked down the door leading to the backyard.

"Please stop destroying my house!" Shigure groaned. "You're going to have to fix that, you know!" he warned the cat, snickering at the boy's reaction. He didn't look to happy at his cousin's words.

"Yeah? Well, I'll give you something to fix!" he exclaimed, grabbing Shigure by his collar and holding his fist up threateningly. Shigure waved his hand in weak defense.

"Kyo! What are you doing to my poor Shigure?" he heard a flamboyant voice coming from the door to the kitchen, and both turned to see who it was.

"Oh, Aya! I'm so glad you're here! Kyo was just getting ready to remodel my face!" he exclaimed, rushing to the snake and grabbing his hand between two of his own in gratitude. Ayame turned away as if it were nothing.

"Oh, Shigure, it's nothing for me. I _did_ always have wonderful timing, you know!" he laughed.

"That is true, that is true," Shigure agreed. The two men walked away through the house together, laughing about some ridiculous high school story or another.

Kyo was left alone to bask in his anger. "Grr, why is it always me that's left in the room alone?" he grumbled. "Uh- I need some food!" he said loudly, striding upstairs to look for Tohru so she could make him some lunch.

"Tohru!" he called. "I'm hungry! When're ya' gunna make lunch?" he called down the hall. No answer. She always responded when he demanded food. She must not be home.

"Probably off chasing that damn rat," he snarled. "I'll just make some rice balls," he sighed, stomping downstairs to prepare some food for himself.

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"Ah! You were right! There's so many of them!" Tohru exclaimed. There were hundreds of berries on the bushes. "How are we going to collect them?" she asked, they hadn't brought any baskets, seeing as they'd come here on the spur of the moment.

"Oh, that's right. Well... I dunno," Yuki shook his head. "Why don't we just try a few, and come back later to pick them?" he asked.

"Oh! I couldn't do that, they're yours, and you worked so hard to grow them! I have to at least make jam or pie with them for you! Yuki, no, I cou-," she was cut off by Yuki popping a berry in her mouth.

"Of course you can eat them. They're very edible. Go ahead, chew and swallow," he smiled, watching her chew up the berry.

"It's very fresh!" she exclaimed.

"That's because they're right off the bush," Yuki nodded, eating a couple himself. "Why don't I go get a couple of baskets? I'll be right back," he told her, walking past her towards the woods.

"A- alright," Tohru stuttered, watching him walk away. For a second he paused in hs steps. "Yuki?"

"And Miss Honda," he turned around and smiled. "Thank you," with that, he had disappeared into the trees.

Tohru was left to ponder what exactly he was thanking her for.

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"My little brother! I've been wondering where you were!" Ayame danced up to Yuki as soon as he came in the door and pulled him into a tight hug. Yuki squirmed to be freed.

"Ay-Ayame? What are you doing here? Get off me!" he pushed his older brother away.

"You could at least say hello," he pouted. "We don't see each other that often."

"Yuki's just moody today, Aya," Shigure explained. "Bye the way, where's Hari today?" he frowned, it was then that he released there dear cousin was not there.

"Oh, he was busy with a patient today," Ayame explained, waving it off.

"But, how did you get here? You can't drive, can you?" Yuki asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, I am beautiful!" he exclaimed with a laugh... which was bordering nervousness.

"He didn't ask about beauty!" Kyo interrupted through a mouth full of rice. "He asked if you can drive a damn car!" he growled.

"I didn't ask for your help talking to stupid, here," Yuki turned cold eyes on the cat.

"Shut up, ya' damned rat!"

"Stupid cat," Yuki replied calmly, looking at Kyo with no emotion in his eyes.

"Say that again!" Kyo growled, getting in Yuki's face.

"Stupid. Cat."

"Why I oughta!" Kyo began, but both boys turned to look at Shigure at his words.

"Come to think of it, **can** you drive?" he asked.

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A.B. There you have it! Our (HoshiToTsuki's and mine) newest co-written story!

H.H.T. Yup! Our first fruits basket!!! We hope everyone was in character enough.

A.B. Yeah, we tried hard on that!

H.H.T. Please review!

A.B. OR ELSE .>. . 

H.H.T. Naw, we're just joshin' ya.

A.B. But reviews WOULD mean a lot!

H.H.T. Sayonara!

A.B. Ja ne mata!


	2. The Birds And The Bees

"I'm back, sorry that it took me so long," Yuki apologized, handing Tohru a basket. "I got caught up in something," he sighed.

"What happened? Did the fan club try to break down the door again?" the girl joked, referring to a time a month or so ago.

"No, worse," he said darkly, kneeling next to her and beginning to work at filling his basket.

"Ayame?" Tohru smiled softly at the side of his face. "Sorry, I should have gone back to get baskets, not you. I _am_ the maid, right?" she sighed apologetically.

"No, no! It's definitely not your fault! Please don't feel that way," he looked over at her, alarmed. "Why do you always take the blame for everyone else's problems, anyway?" he asked her, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Tohru only smiled again, her eyes gentle.

"Mom said that when someone's had a harsh day, the last thing they want to hear is that it's their fault," she recited, as if reading it from a book. Yuki always marveled at the way she clung to every word her mother ever said. "If there's anyway to make someone feel better, you should do just that. It goes double if you really care about the person," she turned back to picking the ripe berries.

Yuki watched her hands work in awe… so… did that mean that she cared for him? No, she'd said _about _not _for_. Plus, Tohru didn't say that _she_ tried double for him this time… only that you _should _try double. The Prince blinked a couple times, confused by his own thoughts.

What confused him the most, though, was that he _wanted _her to care for him. Yes, _for _him, not about him. And that didn't mean like a kid sick in bed. He wanted her to worry about him… sort of like he… worried about her.

"Miss Honda…," he began, not sure what he was going to say. "You like strawberries, don't you?" he asked quietly, reaching out with a finger to pick up a berry on its stem… but he didn't pull it off. Instead, he let it drop again. Tohru watched his motions, and the way he concentrated intently on that berry.

But at the same time…

He just wasn't there.

She could tell by his expression… by the way his eyes shone. He was thinking about something… and he was thinking hard.

"That doesn't mean that you have to stick your neck out like that!" he exclaimed with a fierceness that she'd barely ever seen in Yuki. Normally he was so calm, quiet… and kind of cold. "What if the person took their frustration out on you? What if they blamed you for the bad day?" he asked, suddenly turning and looking at her with fire in his eyes.

He was almost yelling, now. Tohru's eyes grew wide… what did he mean? Why was he yelling like this? He normally only yelled when he was fighting, and barely even then. Whenever Yuki got frustrated… he always left in a gust of freezing air… and sometimes a couple rats chased after him.

"Yuki… I- you- I mean," Tohru was lost for words. What with realizing that he was completely right about sticking your neck out like that, and the fact that he was reprimanding her for the first time… well, ever! What was she supposed to say? "Please calm down!" she exclaimed.

His expression stayed the same for another moment, almost angry. But his eyebrows furrowed in a way that seemed almost worried, desperate… and then his eyes became sad. He turned his head so he wouldn't have to look her in the face.

Running his hand through his hair, he sighed, and then smirked slightly. His eyes didn't lose their sadness, though.

"I'm sorry," he sighed. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know, Yuki. I know," she whispered, looking down at her lap. They remained like that for a while… neither able to bring themselves to look at the other.

"The strawberries…," he whispered suddenly, gulping before he continued. "I really did plant them for you. I thought you'd like them," he breathed deeply three times to keep from stressing out so much that he would transform into a rat. For some reason, she was the only one that could do this to him.

"I do like them, I love them," she smiled, returning to picking the bright red fruit. "They kind of look like small hearts," she said. "The way they curve at the top where the stem was, and the points at the bottoms."

"Hearts, huh?" he asked, turning back towards her. She looked over at him for a moment, then smiled.

"Ha ha," she laughed girlishly… but not in that fake way that most girls did around him about his slightest action.

He grinned back at her… just happy to have found someone that wasn't fake. Someone real. A real girl.

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"Argh," Kyo groaned. "Those two are going to make me sick," the cat grumbled. He was leaning against the door in an almost invisible space… watching the two other men.

No, they were not doing anything DIRTY. Unless you count Ayame's designs as dirty.

"So this one is my new female police officer's outfit!" he exclaimed, pointing to a drawing of a girl wearing a new dress in his sketch book.

"OH! That's cute!" Shigure swooned.

"And this is the new nurse outfit!" he pointed to another picture. Shigure, once more, stared at the picture. They went through this a series of times, with variations of pictures and pages.

"Dirty old man," Kyo snarled, turning on his heel and leaving. He couldn't take it anymore. They were absolutely disgusting, the two of them. Who could stand to look at pictures of women all day?

"What's so great about women, anyway? Men are just _dandy_ with me!" he said in defiance, closing his eyes mid-sentence. Suddenly the cat froze. His foot was still in the air where he'd been about to step, and his eyes popped open. "I never said that. I didn't mean it. Women are great. I love women. I hate men," he repeated over and over as he entered his bedroom and slid the door shut behind him.

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"We're back!" Yuki called as he and Tohru entered the house, baskets full.

"About time," they heard Kyo's call from upstairs as he stomped his way down. "I'm starving here. Tohru, what's for dinner?" he demanded rudely as he entered the room.

"Yes! I'm absolutely famished!" Ayame exclaimed, prancing into the room.

"Oh, um, sorry, Kyo," Tohru apologized. "Will you be staying for dinner, Ayame?" she asked politely.

"No, he's busy this evening," Yuki answered for his older brother. "I'll just see him to the front door. Excuse me," he nodded at Tohru.

Striding forward, he caught his brother's arm and dragged him down the hall. "What? Show you older brother a little respect! I will be staying and that's final," they heard Ayame's reproachful remarks.

"See ya' later, Aya!" Shigure called.

"You are no brother of mine," they heard Yuki say with ice in his tone as he opened the front door.

"Of course we're brothers! We have the same mother and father! But I suppose nobody has had the birds and the bees talk with you,, have they?" Ayame sighed.

They heard Ayame being pushed out the door and Tohru turned pink at his words.

"Good bye," Yuki sad, sliding closed the door and locking it. Ayame kept talking through it.

"Well, when a man loves a woman very much," he told his sibling.

"He doesn't have to love her!" Shigure interjected, calling it down the hall to Ayame.

"Yes, true, true," Ayame said, then began again. "When a man feels a burning desire for a woman' touch, he will do almo-" and then Yuki slammed closed the hard wooden door, too.

Coming back down the hall, he adjusted his sleeve and brushed his hands together as if ridding himself of imaginary dirt.

"What's supper?" he asked Tohru calmly.

It was as if her cheeks weren't burning red and the entire conversation had never happened.

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H.H.T. We had fun with that one.

A.B. Ooodles of it. The whole chapter was great to write!

H.H.T. From the adorable romance in the beginning-

A.B. To the hilarious, sexual content implied, ending.

H.H.T. Yes we're saying that our own story was hilarious-

A.B. And adorable!

H.H.T. Thanks for 50 hits on the last chapter in just one day!

A.B. And thanks to our wonderful reviewer!

H.H.T. We are so happy to have the wonderful review!!!

A.B. Sayonara!

H.H.T. Ja ne mata!


	3. Defying the Head

The next morning arrived peacefully, without the usual bustle before breakfast getting ready for school. That was because it was, well, a Saturday!

"Tohru," Shigure began as he sat down across the table from her with his newspaper.

"Shigure, you look kind of upset," she replied, pouring him a cup of tea from the kettle.

"I hope you don't mind… we, that would be Yuki and I, have to go to Sohma house for a while today," he apologized, picking up some Sushi with his chopsticks.

"Oh, no! It's fine! I'll stay here with Kyo today," she smiled. She didn't mind staying home, not one little bit, but she was worried about Yuki going to see Akito. That was… if they even were meeting with him. Sohma house was huge, they might not even see him. But if they did… Tohru knew how Yuki froze up and got this fearful look in his eye when ever he even _saw_ the guy!

"I can't," Kyo interrupted, coming into the room from outside where he'd been practicing. He flung a towel around his shoulders as he sat down. "I've got a…," his voice lowered to a grumble that nobody could understand for a moment.

**Queue a rice ball flying across the scene screaming 'DATE WITH KAGURA!' **

Shigure burst into tears of crazy laughter. "Ha- you, ha, ha Kagura-" Shigure didn't attempt to speak anymore, he chuckled and turned away from the table laughing furiously.

"Aw! I think that that's sweet, Kyo!" Tohru got stars in her eyes and put food on Kyo's plate.

"Yes, adorable," a cool voice commented. "When's the wedding?" Yuki joked, sitting down.

"Well you're certainly not invited!" Kyo growled. Tohru and Shigure grew into chibi people and screamed:

"Kyo's getting married!"

"What? No I'm not!" he defended quickly, his neck turning beat red.

"But you just said that Yuki wasn't invited… therefore there has to be something he's not invited to!" Shigure pointed out.

"And seeing as we were on the topic of marriage-!" Tohru exclaimed.

"It would only make sense," Yuki nodded calmly, sipping his tea.

"Well, I didn't mean it like that, alright?" Kyo roared, stuffing five rice balls in his mouth so that he could no longer speak.

"You're going to choke," Shigure warned, wagging a finger disapprovingly.

"No I'm not," he spoke through the food. Of course, being Kyo, he choked… and Tohru panicked. Shigure slapped him on the back, and Yuki completely ignored all of them.

"Yuki! What are we gunna do? Kyo's going to die! Don't you even care?" Tohru became hysterical. Yuki couldn't take that.

"He'll be fine! It's alright!" Yuki patted her shoulder ad poured her a cup of tea. "If he were really stressed, he'd turn into a cat. But that hasn't happened yet, right?" he told her.

"I don't get it," she said, sitting next to him in Shigure's place. In the background Shigure was still attempting to get the food out before it killed Kyo.

"See, he'd be freaked out if he were dying. But he's okay, this is only a little slip up. Understand?" Yuki smiled. Tohru nodded slowly.

"I- I think so," she said. After another moment, a new question popped into her head. "Yuki, do you have to see Akito today?" she asked him quietly.

"Yes," Yuki replied, his eyes becoming hard. "It's kind of important. He called us out of the blue."

"Yuki, what's going on?" she asked him sadly. "I mean, you don't have to tell me, I'm just curious!" she covered her worry up quickly.

"I won't lie to you. We have to go there, and it's important because it concerns you. Ever since you saw Kyo's real form three months ago, Akito has been very nervous. He thinks that it is wrong of you to even be involved with the family. His biggest problem with you now is that you will blab the secret," Yuki said. She saw anger in his eyes.

"He was the one that had Kyo's bracelet removed! If he didn't want you to talk, he shouldn't have shown you!" Yuki snarled at his food, not meeting her eye.

"Then why would he even attempt it?" Tohru asked, unsure of why Yuki as so angry. She could understand being mad, but he was furious!

"Because I'm afraid that he either wanted you driven away by the sight," Yuki looked at her, "or even killed."

Tohru gasped. "Would Akito really do something like that?" she asked, not wanting to believe that he was that bad of a person.

"Definitely. As much as it hurts me to say it. He's in constant pain because he knows that he'll die soon, and he takes his anger out on everyone else. Akito makes everyone else feel the pain that he is constantly feeling," Yuki said softly.

"I'm sure that if I were in that situation, I might do the same thing," Tohru said, feeling the overwhelming need to defend the older boy.

"I don't think you would," Kyo commented, finally sitting down at the table after dislodging the rice.

"Nor do I," Yuki shook his head.

"Tohru, don't you see? You've been in that situation for a long time. Your mother and father have both passed away, your only family was un-hospitable to you," Shigure half smiled. Tohru opened her mouth to defend her aunt, uncle, and cousin, but Kyo stopped her.

"Don't even think about it. We know that the only one that was kind to you in that house was your grandfather," Kyo held his chin in his hand.

"You've been taking care of yourself for almost two years, now. You're working two jobs and putting yourself through school! You have every right to be cruel towards others," Shigure laughed.

"But you don't, never," Yuki smiled. He turned from Shigure, to Yuki, to Kyo, and back again.

"All you do is smile," Kyo said, and most people would have thought he was aggravated. But the Honda and his cousins knew that that was his 'nice' tone.

"Don't worry about it, Tohru! We know that you won't tell our secret, and that's all that matters," Shigure finished.

"O- okay," she stuttered. _I'm so lucky to have people like this in my life, Mom. Even when they could be in trouble, the put on a happy face for me, and they make me feel better. Even though they're afraid of Akito… the still defend me. I should be so much more grateful. I'm a spoiled brat, aren't I? _

Tears came into Tohru's eyes, both from sadness and from being happy to have these three.

"Tohru, what's the matter?" the dog asked.

"Thank you, thank you all so much!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the nearest person, which happened to be Yuki. There was a poof of air, and Yuki was sitting on the floor as a purple rat, his clothes an empty pool on the floor.

"This curse needs to be broken," Yuki sighed.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Tohru exclaimed. "I forgot! I know that sounds really stupid, please forgive me!" Tohru bowed to the rat. He patted her head with his little paw.

"That's okay," he said. "No problem. This always happens!" he laughed.

"I noticed," she giggled, sitting up and smiling.

"Maybe you should leave the room, Yuki," Shigure commented.

"Why?" he asked.

"You change back faster when you're laughing and happy," Kyo said without pause. A second later, there was another poof of purple smoke… and there was naked Yuki.

"Ah!" she yelped, turning away before she saw anything besides his chest and stomach.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, picking up his clothes and leaving the room.

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"We're not going to do it, really, right?" Yuki begged his cousin as they were walking home. "Anything but this! We can't do it to her! Please, Hari, don't do it!" he stood in front of the man, momentarily blocking his path.

"I know that it hurts, but we're not defying Akito's word," he said. There was a bit of sadness in his visible eye, and he pushed past the younger man.

_'When the snow melts, what does it become?'_

_'Well, I guess that's Spring, right?' _

Hatori gasped as the memory of the girl flashed through his mind, and he couldn't bring himself to move any further.

"Hari, what's wrong?" Shigure asked at seeing his pause.

"I'll give you five minutes. Get her out of the house. If you get caught, don't speak a word about me having to do with it. This is all on your shoulders," the doctor looked Yuki in the eyes.

"What? Are you insane? We all love Tohru, but we can't-" Shigure was cut off.

"I promise, not a word," Yuki nodded. "Thank you, Hatori," and with that, he had dashed down an alley that led to the woods and a shortcut to the house. They were supposed to report back in one hour, and bring the girl's unconscious body with them.

"Hatori! What were you thinking? We can't do this! We need Tohru's body as proof that we didn't do this!" Shigure scolded him, grabbing the seahorse's shoulder.

"Like I said. If Yuki does this, it's all on him. Just let me do all of the talking, alright?" Hatori looked at Shigure with a sudden anger in his eyes. "Those boys love her. I'm not about to let another relationship be lost because of Akito's jealousy."

Shigure stared.

**Queue dramatic music. **

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**A.B. **Wow, even we're lost in the dramatic-ness of the last few paragraphs.

**H.H.T. **We have three reviews!!!!

**A.B. **Unless you count Hoshi reviewing our own story (glares).

**H.H.T.** At least it looks good!

**A.B.** From the outside!

**H.H.T.** Oh, by the way, I' giving a shout out to 'Wielder of the Mighty Pen!' You read my story 'A Plain Girl Like Me,' remember?

**A.B.** But we also thank Sugar and Loretta!

**H.H.T.** Thanks very much for reviewing! Sayonara!!

**A.B.** Ja ne!


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